Parachute device



.Jan. 26, 1943. GM E lR UX 2,309,107

P'ARAcHU'rE DEVICE Filed Oct. 18, 1939 V 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan 26, M43, (5, E, Gmoux PARACHUTE DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001:. 18, 1939 Patented Jan. 26, 1943 Guy E. Giroux, New York, N.'Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Aerial Products, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application October 18, 1939, Serial No. 299,916 I 7 Claims. (01.244-145) The present invention relates to a parachute device and it particularly relates to the small types of parachutes which are to be includedin projectiles or containers to be elevated to substantial heights and caused to open and then release an object, such as an attached flare, which will descend slowlyldown to the ground.

It has notalways been found satisfactory to form such parachute devices of paper materials, due to the fact that they are not strong as may be desired, require substantial sewing and also do not properly buoy the parachute and assure U the slow desired rate of descent.

Moreover these paper parachutes have only limited power of suspended weight and will frequently overturn or collapse unless certain predetermined weights are placed thereon and they In accomplishing the above objects it has been found 'most satisfactory according to one embodiment of the invention to form the chute of a flexible plastic material, and preferablya flexible thermoplastic sheet material, such as for exampleshe'et resins, sheet cellulose derivatives and are not most desirable from the viewpoint of waterproofness, hon-inflamm'ablefmoldproof character and dimensional stability under varying humidity and climatic conditions.

His among the objects of the present invention to provide an improvedparachute of the character above described which will be devoid of the disadvantages of paper parachutes and which will give a better suspension and a slower rate of descent with support of increased weight and which shall withstand packing, expulsion and/or any heat effect arising from the flare or other suspended object and which will maintain its balance and equilibrium during thedescent without excessive oscillation.

preferably sheet rubber materials. The most satisfactory materials for the purpose of the present invention have been found to be rubber hy- I drochloride materials or chlorinated high molecular weight hydrocarbons. Combinations of thesematerials with or without plasticizers may also be employed.

It has been found most desirable to form a blank out of these sheet materials having a marginal portion with a plurality of spaced projections and a central portion, which central portion is distended by compression or stretching,

as by a spherical or hemispherical form together with an electrical heater, hot air or .ahot water jacket, to substantially spherical contour with substantial reduction in thickness.

, The marginal portions at the same time will be as thick as the original sheet and to the projections extending from the marginal portionsmay be attached the strings for supporting the flare or other object to be suspended.

Referring to-the drawings which illustrate several of the various possible embodiments of the present invention, but to which the present invention is by no means restricted, since the draw- Another object is to provide an improved small parachute device of the character above described, which will quickly sn ap itself to full inflated position when released without tendency toward overturning or collapsing even with very low weights suspended thereby, and which will be seamless and devoid of sewing, as soft and -v pliable as silk and as light as tissue paper, al-

though, it will possess much greater tensile strength.

Another object is to provide an improved parachute device of the character above described,

which will be waterproof, non-explosive, noninflammable, moldproof and have excellent dimensional stability throughout the entire humidity range. c

-Still furtherobjects and advantages will appear from the more detailed description set forth below; it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without dep'arting from the scope and spirit of the invention.

ings are merely by way of illustration and not by way of limitation,

Fig. l is an elevational view of one form of parachute device according to'the present invention,

Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe blank of sheet material before it is formed into the parachute device of Fig. 1,

Figs. 3 to 5 illustrate one manner of .forming the blank of Fig. 2 into the parachute of Fig 1,

Fig. 3 being a top plan view of the holder device for the blank, Fig. being a transverse cross sectional view upon the line 4-- 4 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 being a side view illustrating how the hold- .er is placed upon the forming device,

Figs. 6 and '7 illustrate an alternative method of forming the blank, Fig. 6 .being a transverse sectional view showing the frame holding the blank before distension thereof andFig. 7 show- 'ing the distension of the blank,

Fig. dis a diagrammatic transverse sectional view upon the line 8-8 of Fig. 1, upon an enlarged scale as compared to Fig'. l, and illustrating a variation in the thickness of the sheet material,

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view of an alternati've forming arrangement.

Referring to Fig. 2, the blank A may be cut of any distendible thin or sheet material, which may preferably be thermoplastic, such as sheet rubber, sheet resins, sheet rubber hydrochlorides and particularly the sheet rubber chloride at present upon the market known as Pliofllm.

The blank is cut out with the main flat central portion l0, which is to be distended into curved or distended shape. with the recesses II and with the projection I2.

In the final parachute, the central portion I is extended or distended so' as to be of substantially less thickness and of hemispherical contour and is indicated at H) in Fig. 1, while the edge or marginal portion l4 below the line at I5 is of substantially the original thickness.

The projections 13 may be tied together and gathered by the knot l3, to which is attached the cords M, the ends l5 of which may suspend a flare or other device to be held in the air for a predetermined length of time.

Referring particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, the blank A, and particularly the marginal portion I4 thereof, is gripped between the upper annular block or plate I! and the lower annular block or plate I8, the blank being held substantially flat.

At spaced intervals around the presser members I1 and 18 are positioned the clamps I9 having the lower clamping seat 20 and the upper.

clamping seat 2|, which may be pressed down by the screw member 22.

When the blank A has been tightly gripped between the members I1 and I8, it is placed upon a distending or forming device, as shown in Fig. 5, which consists of a spherical glass bowl 23, which also may be of polished metal containing the heat resistance element 24, said bowl being supported on the base and supplied by the electrical conduits 26.

The heat should be suflicient to cause the ing section 23', which may be of metal or glass and the lower hot gas inlet section 21, which has an inlet nipple 28 connected to the valve 29.

The valve 29 connects to the inlet pipe 30, from which hot air may be admitted to the nipple 28 by actuation of the valve handle 3|.

The hot air will force its way in, as indicated by the arrows 32 in Fig. 7, and press the blank against the inside face 33 of the globe D.

The inlet portion 2] is provided with the flanges 34 which are held against the clamp elements I1 and ill by the clamps E having the screw members 22'.

In the device shown in Fig. 9 (corresponding- 1y functioning parts being indicated by the same numerals provided with a superior 2), the clamping device E receives an aluminum forming device D which consists of the outer shell 35 and the inner shell 36 forming a jacket which is designed to receive hot water, steam or superheated air through the inlet 31, said jacket being also provided with an outlet 38. This forming device D may replace the forming device D, as shown in Fig. 5. Cold water or cool fluids may also be introduced for quick cooling after the heat distention has taken place.

In Fig. 8 is shown how the material becomes much thicker in passing from the distended hemispherical portion at I 0 into the marginal portion at M, after it has been formed into a parachute.

It is thus apparent that the'present applicant has provided an improved parachute, which, due to its hemispherical form, will have an enhanced power to suspend weight much superior to conical parachutes, or parachutes which may be sewn from sectors of paper.

The hemispherical chute of the present application has a superior weight suspending power in direct proportion to its greater inside surface area and its suspending power is further augmented by lowering its base line to a point substantially below the line l5, which is the diameter line of the hemisphere.

It is noted that the parachute is so constructed that its thinnest and lightest surface area is at the top and by increasing the thickness of its. walls by consistent progression from its apex to its base line, its greatest gravity pull will be positioned at the bottom.

The result is that the parachute when dropped 1 a shorter distance, as from the ceiling of an average room, will fall in normal descending position without other ballast than that provided by the weight of its own shroud lines, whereas a conical parachute so dropped would quickly overturn and collapse in its descent.

The present parachute may be quickly snapped upwardly from an inverted position on the floor and when released will right itself in the air, slowly settling back to the floor in normal descending position.

Even as small a parachute as of 12" true diameter, when fired to a height of feet, carrying a two-ounce flare, will descend not more than half way to the ground during the interval re quired to burn out the flare.

It will be noted that the parachute has the important advantage of being seamless, and forming a: perfect hemisphere when distended. Although it is as light as tissue paper, it possesses much greater tensile strength.

The material from which it is made is as soft and pliable as silk, is Waterproof, non-explosive, non-inflammable, moldproof, and has excellent dimensional stability throughout the entire humidity range.

If desired, instead of being formed of a single sheet of material, the parachute may be formed of several sheets which may be wrapped together and welded or fused together at the laps.

By arranging the strength and thickness of the material, diameters even up to 16 feet may be obtained.

Due to the flexibility and elasticity of the sheet material, it is also possible to even cause the marginal portion M to be re-entrant and to have a smaller spacing below the line IE or l5 than at the line l5 or l5 and then, if desired, the lower portion may flare outwardly adjacent the projections l2.

Although the hemispherical form is preferred, it is also possible to use a closed bottom cylindrical or even elliptical shapes. However, the hemispherical form appears to give the greatest buoyancy and seem to be most satisfactory.

It will be noted that in F18; 9 the lower marglnal portions M of the sheet A closely conform to the lower portions of the walls of the jacket D, with the result that the heating will be applied uniformly over the entire distended area Hi. It 'is found for certain purposes this gives a more satisfactory result than to have the marginal portion separated from the heated surface, as indicated in connection with the marginal rtions M in Fig. 5,

Of course, the clamp C of Fig. 5 andC of Fig. 9 might beiso arranged as to permit conformation of the marginal portions M and M to reentrant portions of the globe D or intumed por- Y tions which may be formed upon the jacket D? As many changes could be made in the parachute device, and. many apparently widely difierent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description'shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in" a limiting sense.

What is claimed is: I Q l. A parachute formed of a thermoplastic sheet material having relatively thick marginal portions and a relatively thin domed portion.

2. A parachute formed of sheet rubber having 3. A parachute formed of chlorinated high molecular weight hydrocarbon material having relatively thick marginal portions and a relatively thin domed portion;

4. A parachute formed of a thermoplastic sheet material having relatively thick marginal portions and a relatively thin domed. portion of 1 edge, attaching weighting means to the scalloped edg and then placing the central portion of the blank on a heated spherical member and per- 25 dnitting said weighting means to distend the central portion of said blank by their weight while said blank is applied to said heated member.

relatively thick marginal portions and a relatlvely thin domed portion.

GUY E. GIROUX. 

